Writing instrument, particularly a fountain pen with exchangeable cartridge



Sept. 6, 1960 WRITING IN PEN H. BRO STRUMENT, PARTICULARL WITH EXC Filed HANG Feb;

EABLE C 4, 19

Y A FOUNTAIN TRIDGE Inventor HEL-M 01' 8120s:

Unite States atet WRITING INSTRUMENT, PARTICULARLY A FOUNTAIN PEN WITH EXCHANGEABLE CARTRIDGE Helmut Bross, Hannover, Germany, assignor to Gunther Wagner, Hannover, Germany- Fiied Feb. 4, 1957, Ser. No. 637,955

Claims priority, application Germany Feb. 7, 1956 3 Claims. (Cl. 120-454) This invention relates to a writing instrument, particularly a fountain pen, having an exchangeable cartridge, formed with a neck and containing the medium used, for instance ink, insertable into the barrel of the pen and connectable to an ink-extracting tube. Although with such writing instruments, filling with ink is greatly facilitated by exchanging the cartridge, emptied by writing, for a filled cartridge, or by refilling the empty cartridge, it is still desirable to indicate to the writer that the cartridge should be refilled or exchanged for a filled cartridge.

There are already fountain pens with ink reserve space. Such fountain pens however have no exchangeable cartridge. It is therefore one object of the invention to equip a writing instrument furnished with an exchangeable cartridge, with an ink reserve space. An essential feature of the invention consists in the projecting end of the inkextracting tube extending through the end wall of the cartridge and projecting a distance into the interior of the cartridge to form an ink reserve space. In this manner the interior itself of the cartridge is utilised to create the ink reserve space, so that it is not necessary to provide the writing instrument with additional spaces to receive the reserve ink.

A further object of the invention consists in being able to switch in the ink reserve space in the simplest possible manner. For this purpose, according to a further feature of the invention, the ink reserve space is able to be switched in by longitudinally displacing or turning relatively to the pen barrel, the cartridge connected to the pen barrel. According to another feature of the invention, a flow valve, operable by movement of the cartridge, can be provided between the ink reserve space and the ink-extracting tube. With such the valve is suitably constituted by an axial recess in the inner surface of the neck of the cartridge and a transverse port in the ink-extracting tube coacting therewith.

In order to determine the two end positions of the cartridge with the ink reserve space switched in or out, abutments or stops and counter-abutments or the like coacting therewith, can be provided on the pen barrel and on the cartridge.

Several constructional embodiments of the invention are shown, by way of example, in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section through the portion of a fountain pen containing an exchangeable cartridge, and

Figs. 2 and 3 are views similar to Fig. 1 of other constructional forms.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the portion of a fountain pen along lines IVIV.

On the rear end of a core 2. screwed into the barrel 1 of a fountain pen, is screwed a cap 3, of which merely a portion is shown, which encloses an exchangeable cartridge 4. The cartridge 4 has a flexible portion 5 and a firm portion 7 extending as a neck 6. In the constructional form shown in Fig. 1, the neck 6 is screwed into a corresponding internally screwthreaded socket 8 provided 2,951,466 Patented Sept. 6,; 1960 wall 10, which is pierced by the ink-extracting tube, on

screwing the cartridge into the core 2, the end of which is sharpened for this purpose. The annular space around the end of the ink-extracting tube 9 projecting into the cartridge, constitutes an ink reserve space 11.

If the ink reserve space 11 is to be switched into use, the cartridge, after removal of the cap 3, is unscrewed so far until the end face of the ink-extracting tube 9 approximately coincides with the end face of the interior of the cartridge 4. This position is reached as soon as a hooked spring projection 12 encounters the shoulder 13 of the cartridge. The space in the hollow interior of cap 3 must be obviously sutficiently long to accommodate the cartridge 4 in its unscrewed position, that is when the hooked spring projection 12 abuts against the shoulder 13 of the cartridge.

In the constructional form shown in Fig. 2, a through flow valve is provided between the ink-extracting tube 9 and the interior of the cartridge 14. This valve is constituted by a transverse port 15 in the ink-extracting tube 9 and an internal longitudinal groove 16 in the neck 17 of the cartridge 14-. In the position shown in Fig. 2, the transverse port 15 is closed by the neck 17. If the cartridge is turned so far that the transverse port 15 opens into the longitudinal groove 16, then the ink can flow out of the ink reserve space 11 into the ink-extracting tube 9.

The constructional form shown in Fig. 3 is in general like that of Fig. 2, with the difference that the neck 18 without a screwthread is pushed into the socket of the core 19. The holding-together of barrel and cartridge is in this construction elfected by the cap 3, which bears endwise against the rear end of the cartridge, for instance through an interposed spring.

I claim:

1. In a fountain pen, a core, a cartridge adapted to carry ink removably secured to said core, said cartridge having an end wall adjacent to said core, an ink extracting tube extending from said core into said cartridge through said end Wall, a portion of said tube projecting beyond said end wall into said cartridge, and means operatively conducting ink located around said portion of said tube projecting through said ink extracting tube when said ink extracting tube and said core are moved with respect to each other, wherein said cartridge has a neck thereon with said neck having a thread and said core having a thread complemental to said neck thread, said complemental thread being longer than the end of said ink extracting tube portion projecting beyond said end wall.

2. In a fountain pen, a core, an ink carrying cartridge removably secured in said core, an ink extracting tube having one end thereof extending through an end wall of said cartridge and projecting into the interior of said cartridge, thereby forming an ink reserve space, said cartridge being movable relative to said core, and means to allow a flow of the reserve ink into said ink extracting tube in accordance with the position of the cartridge with respect to said core, wherein said core and said cartridge have a projection and a shoulder thereon respectively, said projection in coaction with said shoulder limiting the movement of said cartridge relative to said core.

3. In a fountain pen, a core, a cartridge adapted to carry ink, said cartridge having an end wall adjacent to said core, an ink extracting tube extending from said core into said cartridge through said end wall, a portion of 3 4 said tube projecting beyond said end wall into said car- References Cited in the file of this patent tridge, said cartridge being axially movable with respect to said core and said ink extracting tube, said cartridge UNITED STATES PATENTS having a neck portion, said core having a receiving por- 954,514 Helmer Apr. 12, 1910 tion, said cartridge being matingly and removably con- 5 1,472,576 Averill Oct. 30, 1923 nected to said core when said neck portion engages said 2,726,638 Hackmyer Dec. 13, 1955 receiving portion, said ink extracting tube being turnably 2,802,448 Young Aug. '13, 1957 movable with respect to said neck portion, said neck portion of said cartridge defining a cut out portion at its inner periphery, said ink extracting tube defining an 10 orifice traversing the Wall thereof along said out out por- FOREIGN PATENTS tion for operatively conducting ink located around said 257,700 France June 30, 1896 portion of said tube through said tube. 578,084 Great Britain June 14, 1946 

